Rescued by the Berserker

Little Warrior

Hazel

Knut, I screamed, but he'd blocked my mind. I ached, sensing the emptiness where he'd once been. The connection had lasted only a few moments but I felt the loss of him like a severed limb.

I staggered to my feet, pressing forward in the thick mist. I had to find him.

In the distance, Knut bellowed.

A giant shape loomed out of the mist. A warrior with golden eyes. Then another, and another.

I stumbled backwards and hit a hard, armored body. The Berserkers were at my back and front, hemming me in.

"What's this?" A large hand tugged my hair. I slapped at it, and burly arms grabbed me, held me fast.

"A woman."

More hands on my legs. "She smells delicious."

"She's in heat." The voice was thick with lust. "A spaewife."

"Is she unclaimed?"

"No," I kicked hard, and my foot struck the warrior holding my legs until he dropped me. "I am Knut's. You cannot have me!"

"Knut?" The warrior at my back set me down, turned me to face him. He was a large and blunt-faced brute, but his hands were gentle. "I did not know Knut had a woman."

"He does now. He is mine," I snarled as savagely as a Berserker in the grip of madness.

The Berserker blinked in surprise. A few others chuckled.

"Wait, stop!" Another warrior called out. A redhead pushed through the circle of warriors. "You are Hazel? This is the girl Knut went to rescue," he said when I nodded.

"Is this true, Leif?" Asked the brute holding me.

"It is true," Leif jerked his head at me. "She is why he defied the Alpha's commands."

"Then she comes with us." With a grunt, the warrior lifted me.

"Wait!" I fought, "Let me go!" Knut! I reached out and heard him roar in impotent rage. The warriors must have restrained him, to keep him from me, but when I reached by my mind, he was silent.

Panicked, I began to struggle harder.

"Put her down, Thorbjorn. She is Knut's," Leif said. "She smells of his seed."

Thorbjorn grunted again, but set me on my feet.

Hands shaking, I pushed my hair back and showed the mark at the tender junction of my neck and shoulder. The magic had done its work; the mark was red and shiny but already healing. I hoped it would never fade.

"He marked you?" Leif and the others crowded around, but did not touch me.

"I am his mate. Where is he?"

"He's in the hands of the warriors he tried to attack. He will answer to the Alphas for that, and his crimes."

"What?" I breathed. I tried to push out of the circle of warriors, but they might as well have been made of stone.

"Enough, lass," a stern-faced warrior blocked my path. "Let's get out of this fog, and to the mountain."

They formed a circle around me, four walls of weapons, shields and hard-muscled bodies. As we marched, I kept reaching out with my mind, needing the touch of Knut's thoughts on mine. But there was only silence.

The further we walked, the more my mind cleared. The fog slowly dissipated, but my head throbbed with the loss of the bond.

"Are you tired?" Leif asked me.